1. A Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to a weight lifting device for supporting a barbell, and more particularly to a weight lifting device to distribute the load from the weight lighting bar to the trapezius muscles for performing squat and lung exercises in which the legs are used to alternately raise and lower the upper portion of the body while maintaining the spine in an erect position.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice during squat exercises for the subject to grip the barbell shaft on opposite sides of his head to maintain side-to-side balance while permitting the intermediate shaft portion to rest upon the shoulders and behind the neck. When loads of even moderate magnitude are concentrated upon the relatively small contact area between the shaft and shoulders, intense pain and discomfort can result as well as an injury to the neckbone.
Heretofore, numerous types of weight lifting devices have been suggested, but so far as applicant is aware, no exercising device has been constructed in accordance with the present invention or which purports to obviate the above-mentioned problems currently encountered in barbell squat exercises. Weight lifting aids such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,679,107, 4,213,605 and 4,722,524 rely heavily on transferring the weight from the bar to the shoulder deltoid muscles. The deltoid muscle group houses the very injury prone rotator cuff assembly and should not be involved in a major weight support role in the performance of the squat or lung exercises. Doing so presents a possibility for damage and/or injury.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,605 discloses a weightlifter's protective gear adapted to releasably support a barbell assembly behind the neck and adjacently above the shoulders during exercises. Specifically, the gear comprises a pair of cushion-lined shield straddling the neck and fitting snugly against the shoulders and the upper front and back body areas of the subject, in combination with an upwardly extending notched projection or projections on the shoulder portions of the shield for supporting the barbell shaft, whereby the entire weight of the assembly is uniformly distributed over the shoulders. Each of the shoulder sections 18, 18a is composed of a cushioned layer or interwebbing 23 adapted to fold over the shoulder of the wearer with the opposite ends thereof extending downwardly over the fore and aft upper body surfaces so as to snugly fit against the trapezius and deltoid muscular areas of the shoulder. However, such a device does not distribute the force of the weights so as to best protect the weight lifter while doing exercises such as squats. Furthermore, it is complicated to make, use, and fasten.
The prior art teaches to avoid a great deal, and for some prior art devices a preponderance, of force from being transmitted through the seventh cervical vertebrae and the first dorsal vertebrae, (when these exercises are performed in the traditional fashion) and directly down the vertebral column. But the prior art teaches to transmit the force through the deltoid muscles which houses the rotator cuff which is injury prone. The force should be distributed essentially through the trapezius muscle group, thereby introducing the load more gradually to the spinal column.
There is a long felt need as evidenced by the prior art to provide a weight lifting aid to distribute the load of the barbell so as to prevent damage to the weight lifters spine, rotator cuff and limit the amount of pain experienced by the weight lifter. The pain can divert the lifter's attention from the lift, the form and the technique. There is also a commercial need to accommodate the vast differences between the various human forms in the shoulder and provide a device which fits many differently shaped and sized people. Such a device should be able to be constructed so that "one size fits all".